This invention relates to siding panels for covering the exterior of buildings and more particularly to a fastener guide used to facilitate proper location of fasteners along the length of a siding panel.
Vinyl siding is produced in a multitude of colors and styles, typically through extrusion of heated, colored plastic through a die shaped to impart the desired cross-sectional profile. The texture of the panel faces may be made to resemble wood clapboards or shingles. The most common type of individual vinyl siding panels resemble two courses of wooden clapboards attached to one another; other types resemble single clapboards. Siding panels are nailed or screwed through horizontally extending slots formed in a nailing flange molded into the top of each siding panel in order to attach the panels to the exterior wall of a building to be clad in siding.
Vinyl siding is typically installed using lock-together panels or sub-components designed to accommodate the expansion and contraction of the vinyl material that typically occurs with temperature variations. This expansion and contraction can be quite significant in siding applications where long panels of siding are utilized. Vinyl siding can distort if installed improperly—particularly if fasteners are not properly placed within the elongated slots provided in the nailing flange. A fastener should be placed in the center of a slot so that movement of the siding relative to the fastener can occur in either direction. In addition, fasteners should be attached loose enough to allow siding to slide past the fastener without binding.
In one common siding panel design, a J-shaped channel or trough is molded into the bottom of each siding panel, typically by forming the bottom edge of the panel so that it turns rearward (toward the wall) and upward. A generally U-shaped lip projects forward and downward from the panel near the bottom margin of the nailing flange. This lip is sized to interlock or fit within the channel of the above panel which is installed to overlap and overlie the nailing flange and lip of the panel below. Therefore, the bottom of each panel can be hooked onto the top portion of the previously installed panel below it and the nailing flange and nails are concealed by the overlying, upper panel. Even if double course panels are installed, therefore, it should not be evident to the observer which courses belong to a given panel; rather, the courses should present the appearance of individually installed courses of lap siding.
Unfortunately, during installation it is not uncommon for the installer to drive fasteners into the slots in the nailing flange such that, for example, two adjoining fasteners are each installed outward or each installed inward of the center point in their respective slots thereby limiting the length of travel available for the siding in that location. When such errors occur, distortion or rippling of the panel due to uneven panel movement during expansion or contraction of the panel can be considerable. Such distortion, seen as bending, twisting or outward flaring of individual panels is not only visually unattractive but may allow moisture infiltration to the cladded wall surface. In addition to the above problem of improper fastener placement within the slots, fasteners may be driven into the wall too tightly thereby causing binding even if the fastener is properly placed in the center of the slot.
Therefore there exists a need for a siding installation system that assures proper fastener placement within a nailing slot and that limits binding due to over-tightening of fasteners.